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Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Coordination, livable
communities, sustainability…these are terms often associated with
transportation projects in bustling metropolitan areas, but small towns and
cities across the country are finding opportunities to enhance overall
community accessibility and livability.
Participants in the National Association of Development Organizations’ Rural Transportation Conference had the chance
to explore how states and towns in New England, and specifically Vermont, are
completing projects to better connect residents and visitors to community
amenities.

Photo 1. Vergennes, Vt. Main Street Byway Project

Held in Burlington,
Vt., the conference included several mobile
workshops featuring transportation facilities and operations tied to Vermont’s economic
development, tourism, and commercial infrastructure. Easter Seals Project ACTION staff presented
in a conference session titled Meaningful
Engagement and Collaboration: Develop a Participation Plan, focusing on
tools for involving people with disabilities and older adults in the planning
process, and staff also participated in a mobile workshop on Vermont’s Scenic Byways Program. The Lake
Champlain Byway, which runs north-south in western Vermont, features several new projects that
improve visitor experience, site interpretation and accessibility. Specific projects include the Vergennes Main
Street Byway Recreational Access improvements, Shelburne
Bay Park
interpretive signs, and an accessible wayside facility on the Roosevelt Highway
approach to the Lake Champlain islands.

Photo 2. Shelburne Bay Park, Vt. Interpretive Signs

The largest of these
projects, the Vergennes Recreational Access improvements, includes new stair
access and lookout points with benches next to a dam in Otter Creek which is
used by locals and visitors for fishing, boating and picnicking. While the
stairway is not accessible for people using mobility devices, the structure offers
secure steps, handrails and lighting. A
road on the opposite side of the creek provides surface level access to the
creek. The stairway is one phase of a multi-phase project to improve walking
and trail access between downtown Vergennes and the creek. The Shelburne Bay
Park improvements include
interpretive park signage—at an accessible height—located at the park entrance
adjacent to a parking area. The final
project viewed by workshop participants is a wayside parking area with an accessible
restroom near South Hero on the southernmost Lake Champlain Island. This area is popular with recreation
enthusiasts and boaters, and until the wayside was improved, this section of
the Roosevelt Highway
(U.S. Route 2) offered minimal facilities for travelers.

If you live in a large,
urbanized area with an extensive transportation system, trails, and parks and
recreation access, it can be difficult at first to imagine the significance
that smaller projects such as those along the Lake Champlain Scenic Byway have to
a community in a predominantly rural state.
Significant they are, though, in expanding the opportunity for many more
people of all ages to access and enjoy outdoor recreation.